The Missing is a series of young adult novels written by Margaret Peterson Haddix. It tells the story of famous children from history stolen from their place in time by futuristic time travelers and accidentally sent to the 21st century as babies. Jonah Skidmore is one of the stolen children, and he, along with his non-adopted sister Katherine, must help return the missing kids to their rightful places in history and fix time before it is destroyed. The first book in the series, Found, was published on April 22, 2008. The series continued with book titles Sent, Sabotaged, Torn, Caught, Risked (originally intended to be titled Kept), and Revealed. The eighth and final book, Redeemed, was released on September 8, 2015. There are also two ebook short stories, Sought (which takes place before Risked) and Rescued (which takes place between Risked and Revealed). Haddix originally intended the series to consist of only seven books. However, she stated that she had trouble closing out the series in seven books; leading to her decision to write Redeemed.
Books
Found A thirteen-year-old boy named Jonah Skidmore had always known that he was adopted and had never thought much of it until he began receiving strange letters sent to his house. When Jonah's friend Chip, who received the same letters, learns that he is also adopted, Jonah, Chip, and Jonah's sister, Katherine, set out to find out the truth about their origins. They end up in the middle of an FBI investigation, people appearing and disappearing, and a strange tale from a woman named Angela DuPre, who saw a plane appear (and later disappear) with 36 babies on board. The three come to realize that Jonah and Chip are important missing children from history who were transported to the 21st century by baby smuggling time travelers, Gary and Hodge. Later, the trio are unknowingly lured into a cave, known as a time hollow, with all but one of the other 36 missing children in an attempt by the smugglers to take them to the future. After they have defeated the smugglers, another time traveler from the future known to them as JB (Janitor Boy) decides to send Chip and another boy, Alex Polchak, back to the 1480s, where they were originally taken from. While trying to stop him, Jonah and Katherine are accidentally taken along for the trip as well, leaving it up to them to save their friends and return to the 21st century. This sets the plot and the title for the following book in the series. Found was released on April 22, 2008.
Sent
Jonah, Katherine, Chip, and Chip's biological brother, Alex, have one warning of disaster before they are sent back to the Tower of London in the 15th century, with the promise that they can return to their home in the 21st century if they can repair history. They quickly discover that Chip and Alex's true identities are Edward V (king of England) and Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, respectively. But before Chip can enjoy being the King of England, they discover that they are virtually prisoners—and that the boys' uncle, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, wants them dead. The four teenagers foil an attempt by two men to kill Chip and Alex, but then must hide. The next day, they decide to cross the Thames to Westminster Abbey, where the boys' uncle, Richard of Gloucester, is being crowned King Richard III of England. Posing as angels, they terrify King Richard by telling him that his murder of his nephews means that he is condemned to hell, leaving him with a burden of guilt and terror of damnation that lasts throughout his reign. They visit the queen, their mother, in sanctuary at Westminster, intending to convince her of Chip and Alex's death, but instead Chip and Alex rejoin their tracers (which mark out the events of original time) and Jonah and Katherine are removed from time to a time hollow, where they and JB watch the next two years, from 1483 to 1485. Jonah and Katherine are sent to the Battle of Bosworth Field and manage to convince King Richard to give up his crown in favor of Edward (Chip), but he is killed in battle and Chip and Alex are almost killed before Jonah and Katherine manage to convince them to come home. They return to the time cave, and then go home. JB soon shows up at Chip's house and explains to him, Alex, Jonah, and Katherine that Chip was never meant to be king and that Richard III was meant to be a villain for the sake of furthering humanity's moral development, as the incident with his nephews had made the murder of children no longer acceptable as an option for those involved in governance. JB then tells the four that he wants Jonah and Katherine to help the next missing child, Andrea Crowell, return to her place in history. Sent was released on August 25, 2009.
Sabotaged
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